Local beans in demand
Aug 25, 2003
Trade in beans between Uganda and Kenya is booming at the Busia border crossing. However much of this trade is being done on an informal basis.
By Emmy Olaki
Trade in beans between Uganda and Kenya is booming at the Busia border crossing. However much of this trade is being done on an informal basis.
John Magnay, the chairman of Uganda Grain Traders Limited (UGT) said yesterday, “The reason is that people at the border do not mind about quality and moisture content in the beans. The taxes are also lower for exporters in this sector.â€
UGT is a consortium of 16 local produce dealers.
The market price for large beans is
currently at sh470 a kilogramme; sh480 for medium and sh450 for the small variety. Yellow beans sell at sh540.
Magnay said, “Although most
beans exports to Kenya are going
in informally, they are exports and
we recognise them as exports, so
we can say a lot of beans are being exported there.â€
Turning to maize, Magnay said there has been much buying pressure from Kenya, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo dealers for local stocks.
“Farmers are getting very good prices at the moment,†he said.
The current Kampala price is between sh230 and sh240 per kilogramme of uncleaned wet maize while cleaned dry maize goes for sh330 per kilo.
“We are encouraging farmers to
get their crop in for the next season, because the demand will be very high and the prices will be very good. We encourage them to plant good seeds so that the quality of the output will be good too,†he said.
Other sources say about 5,800 metric tonnes of new wet maize crossed into Kenya in July and demand continues to be strong.
According to RATIN, a regional trade monitoring service, supplies of last season’s dry maize were exhausted in the first week of July, and weather conditions in Uganda have not been favourable for drying the new crop.
Sources say the continuing rains will offer good yields from the late planted maize and traders estimate there is a tradable surplus of 60,000mt with a further 20,000mt to 30,000 mt to come from the Kapchora crop during October and November.
Meanwhile RATIN also reports that Kenyan millers have started taking delivery of South African maize, which has been recently unloaded at Mombasa.
“This maize is being delivered to Nairobi at $262 (about sh32,600 a bag). Millers have had little option but to buy this expensive imported South African maize, because there are insufficient stocks at National Cereals and Produce Board for their present requirements and the early harvest maize that is coming onto the market is too wet to mill,†RATIN said.
Trade in beans between Uganda and Kenya is booming at the Busia border crossing. However much of this trade is being done on an informal basis.
John Magnay, the chairman of Uganda Grain Traders Limited (UGT) said yesterday, “The reason is that people at the border do not mind about quality and moisture content in the beans. The taxes are also lower for exporters in this sector.â€
UGT is a consortium of 16 local produce dealers.
The market price for large beans is
currently at sh470 a kilogramme; sh480 for medium and sh450 for the small variety. Yellow beans sell at sh540.
Magnay said, “Although most
beans exports to Kenya are going
in informally, they are exports and
we recognise them as exports, so
we can say a lot of beans are being exported there.â€
Turning to maize, Magnay said there has been much buying pressure from Kenya, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo dealers for local stocks.
“Farmers are getting very good prices at the moment,†he said.
The current Kampala price is between sh230 and sh240 per kilogramme of uncleaned wet maize while cleaned dry maize goes for sh330 per kilo.
“We are encouraging farmers to
get their crop in for the next season, because the demand will be very high and the prices will be very good. We encourage them to plant good seeds so that the quality of the output will be good too,†he said.
Other sources say about 5,800 metric tonnes of new wet maize crossed into Kenya in July and demand continues to be strong.
According to RATIN, a regional trade monitoring service, supplies of last season’s dry maize were exhausted in the first week of July, and weather conditions in Uganda have not been favourable for drying the new crop.
Sources say the continuing rains will offer good yields from the late planted maize and traders estimate there is a tradable surplus of 60,000mt with a further 20,000mt to 30,000 mt to come from the Kapchora crop during October and November.
Meanwhile RATIN also reports that Kenyan millers have started taking delivery of South African maize, which has been recently unloaded at Mombasa.
“This maize is being delivered to Nairobi at $262 (about sh32,600 a bag). Millers have had little option but to buy this expensive imported South African maize, because there are insufficient stocks at National Cereals and Produce Board for their present requirements and the early harvest maize that is coming onto the market is too wet to mill,†RATIN said.